Pipe joint



Dec. 6, 1949 os 2,490,149

PIPE JOINT Filed Oct. 18, 1944 Patented Dec. 6, 1949 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFlCE PIPE .EOINT Asa H. Mosher, Westfield, N. J.

Application October 18, 1944, Serial No. 559,281

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a device for maintaining the electrolyte of astorage battery at a given level and relates more particularly to animprovement in one of the parts or elements used in such a device.

As shown in my Patent No. 2,209,788 an apparatus is provided forautomatically supplying liquid to a storage battery, the liquid flowingthrough a conduit from a supply tank to the battery to maintain theelectrolyte at a selected level.

An apparatus of the above character is, especially when used on anautomobile, subjected to considerable shock and relatively roughtreatment. It is, therefore, necessary to combine sturdiness with easeof assembly and one of the important elements from a maintenancestandpoint is the mode of support for a conduit passing through abattery cap into the electrolyte.

As shown in my patent above mentioned, the battery cap is provided withan insert or tapered unit to support the fluid conduit and although thishas been found practical and satisfactory, it is subject to certaindisadvantages which the present invention serves to eliminate.

It is an object of the present invention therefore to provide aguide-support or nipple to more effectively hold a conduit relating to aI battery cap.

Another object of the invention is to provide a conduit supportingnipple which may be applied to any standard cap upon the performance ofa simple drilling operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a conduit supportingnipple which may be readily applied or removed from a cap and forholding a portion of the conduit against endwise movement when bent toextend laterally from the axis of the nipple.

Another object of the invention is to provide a nipple of soft rubberhaving a portion compressible to pass through an aperture in the wall ofa battery cap and be retained by the expansion of the providedcompressible portion.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be evident from thefollowing description together with the accompanying drawings in which-Fig. 1 is a schematic side elevational view of an apparatus of the typeto which the present invention relates.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a fluid tank and battery, partly brokenaway to show a nipple 2 constructed in accordance with the presentinvention and showing the nipple as applied to a battery and to a fluidtank.

Fig. 3 is a view of the underside of the tanks or containers used tosupply fluid to batteries.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged View in cross section, of a conduit supportingguide or nipple as applied to a battery cap.

Fig. 5 is a top view of one of the nipples in position on a battery cap,and

Fig. 6 is a side view of the nipple showing the fluid conduit with aportion thereof held in a lateral slot.

The present invention is shown as applied to an apparatus as thatillustrated in the aforementioned patent, and includes a battery I0 asused in an automobile part which latter is shown schematically andindicated by the numeral H in Fig. 1, and a plurality of reservoirs orcontainers. The containers are indicated as a whole by the numeral l2.Each of the containers is provided with a conduit 53 for the passage offluid to the several cells of the battery ii]. In the present apparatusthree containers or reservoirs are provided and for the purpose ofconserving space are of wedge shape or sections of a cylinder, and soformed that when arranged with the flat sides or radial planes incontact the outer surfaces form a continuous cylindrical surface asshown in Fig. 3. These containers are held by a supporting frame l4comprising clamps l5 held by a central bolt l6 provided with a nut andwasher to retain the containers in position. A bracket I! is providedwhereby the group of containers may be secured at the proper elevationto the dash-board I8 of an automobile.

Each container is provided with a stopper or nipple 19 having a head orbody portion 20 with a shoulder 25 to seat on the container and anextension 22 fitting the neck 23 of a container l2. When the reservoirsor containers are mounted on the dash-board l8 the conduits E3 extend tothe battery caps 24 of the battery iii. For the purpose of economy ofmaterial and for practical reasons it is desirable to have the conduitsextend laterally from the nipples E9 of the containers and at the sametime to provide means for holding the conduits against endwise movementduring shocks and jars to which the apparatus is subjected when used ona vehicle such as an automobile.

The head 20 of the nipple I9 is therefore provided with a slot 25leading to a passage 26 in the 3 extension 22 through which one end ofthe conduit extends into a liquid 2? to feed the battery. The slot 25 isso proportioned with respect to the outside diameter of the conduit thatthe walls of the slot firmly frictionally engage and hold the conduitwith a portion thereof substantially at a right angle to thelongitudinal axis of the passage 26. The nipple I g is preferably madeof an elastic material such as soft rubber which yields to the insertionof the conduit into the slot and contracts to hold it in place.

The combined nipple and conduit retainer as described for a container I2is also embodied in a nipple 28 provided for holding the conduit infixed relation to the electrolyte or" the battery.

As shown more clearly in Fig. 4 the battery It is shown provided with astandard cap 2 1 hav ing the usual screw plug 3i and a thin top wall 32.In accordance with the present invention my apparatus may be readilyinstalled by mounting the containers on the dash-board and then simplydrilling a hole 33 in the cap wall 32 to receive the nipple. The nipple28 is provided with an extension 3 3 projecting from a body portion 35Which latter provides a shoulder 28' to seat on the top of the cap 24.The nipple is or an elastic material such as soft rubber and the hole oraperture in the cap may be of a diameter substantially the same as theoutside diameter of the extension 3 which is provided with a flange 35of greater diameter than that of the extension 35 (see Fig. 6). Byreason of the flexibility of the nipple the extension 3% and flange maybe compressed to enter the aperture 33 and permitted to expand to gripthe wall and hold the nipple with the body portion firmly seated on thecap. The body portion or" the nipple 28 is also provided with a lateralslot of less width than the outside diameter of the conduit 55. When aportion of the conduit is pressed into position in the slot it will beheld by the side walls there to prevent endwise movement of the conduitextending from a passage provided in the nipple. For the purpose ofadmitting air to the cell of the battery the passage is provided with aslot ll (see Fig.

When in position and held by a nipple 28 the conduit may be firstadjusted to bring the end d2 thereof to the proper depth in theelectrolyte 413 just above the plates t l. The conduit being of flexiblematerial, preferably soft rubber, may then be bent at right angles and aportion inserted into and retained by the slot thus holding the conduitin its fixed relative position and leading away from the battery cap togive a practical disposition of the conduit length extending to thecontainer.

As described above the liquid container in accordance with th presentinvention is in the form of a compact, substantially cylindrical bodymade up of several separate containers. In the present case threecontainers are employed each of which constitutes a segment of theresultant cylindrical body. The containers are held by suitable means sothat the conduits leading therefrom may readily extend to the battery.It will be evident that although the containers are shown with theconduits extending from the bottom thereof, that the container may bereversed with the nipples uppermost and the conduits leading out fromthe tops of the containers.

reverse the containers fromv the position shown in the drawing.

In practice it has been. found that in some cases it is more desirableto The novel arrangement of the container as shown makes the presentdevice more practical, particularly when used with the novel form ofnipple since the conduits when held by the slots of the nipple areretained and disposed for the free flow of liquid while at the same timeare held against moving too freely under vibration.

In an apparatus of the kind to which the present invention relates, itis essential to provide a structure which may be easily and economicallyinstalled. The means for holding the conduit relative to the containerand to the battery cap constitutes an important part of the device.I-Ieretofore it was necessary to provide a special form of battery cap,whereas the present invention makes it possible, by a simple drillingoperation to modify any standard cap to receive a nipple for supportingthe conduit and for holding or looking it in position against accidentalendwise movement.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown, and describedherein, it is to be understood that modifications may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A nipple for holding a conduit in a given position while extendingthrough an aperture in the cap of a storage battery comprising a bodyportion of soft elastic material, for seating on said cap, an extension,a flange on said extension, said flange having an outside diametergreater than that'of said aperture and capable of being compressed forpassage through said aperture and expandible to cause the flange toretain the nipple in position, said nipple having a passage for aflexible conduit, the body portion of said nipple having a transverseslot extending from said. passage to receive and hold said flexibleconduit when a portion thereof is pressed into frictional engagementwith the walls of said slot.

2. A nipple for holding a conduit in a given position while extendingthrough an aperture in the top wall of the cap of a storage batterycomprising a body portion of oft elastic material, for seating on saidcap, an extension of greater length than the thickness of the top wallof said cap, a flange on said extension, said flange having an outsidediameter greater than that of said apertureand capable of beingcompressed for passage through said aperture and expandible on theunderside of the top wall of said cap to cause the flange to retain thenipple in engagement with the upper and lower surfaces of the top Wallof said cap, said nipple having a passage for a flexible conduit, thebody portion of said nipple having a transverse slot extending from saidpassage to receive and hold said flexible conduit when a portion thereofis pressed into frictional engagement with the walls of said slo't.

ASA I-lE. MOSHER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the idle ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,135,894 Havens Apr. 13, 19151,275,149 Gammeter Aug. 6', 1918 1,357,153 Dicken' Oct. 26, 19201,383,411 Longstreet July'5, 1921 2,039,009 Lampman Apr.. 28, 19362,135,158 Wolford. Nov. 1, 1. 938

